Reason behind women’s tendency to drink more than their mothers

Melbourne: A researcher is trying to determine why women in Australia are drinking more than their mothers used to. Helen Haydon, a psychologist of the Queensland University of Technology Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety, told to a daily that there has been a major generational shift.

She said that in the 1960s, women were not allowed into public bars in Australia and now bars and clubs actively market themselves to women.

Haydon asserted to the publication that in the past 15 years, the proportion of women drinking in a risky way has increased and her team wants to understand the social influences.

She insisted that women's drinking habits often change over time, depending on their stage of life. She said that women start drinking more, around the age of 18 or 19 and it drops during the childbearing years and spikes a bit after the kids have got older.

Haydon told the daily that women today tend to drink more than their mothers did. Moreover, older women who didn't really drink alcohol before, have started to drink in their later years with their daughters, said Haydon.